Continuing an impressive coaching career of 31 years, head coach Jason Pendleton coached his 800th game on Tuesday, Oct. 3. The game ended with a 2-2 tie.
Pendleton shared the events leading to his appreciation for soccer and coaching.
“I started playing all sports when I was a little kid like everybody else used to and I started playing soccer. When I was six years old my brother told me they were playing soccer after school. My dad simply went up and signed me up,” Pendleton said. “Later on I wanted to be involved. And you know, when you play in high school you still have that competitiveness about you. When they tell you you can’t participate anymore as a player, coaching is the only other option.”
The individual players are forever grateful for his instructive coaching. Senior Kate Ricker says coach Pendleton has helped her become the amazing player she currently is.
“I would say coach Pendleton is one of the best coaches I’ve ever had,” Ricker said. “He really tries to get his players to be the best possible versions of themselves. He has made me the player I am today.”
Senior Julia Coacher describes how coach Pendleton has been persistent in his uplifting and inspirational methods that led her to be the best version of herself.
“He has made an impact on me by constantly pushing me and just like everyone else on our team. He’s always pushing us to our full potential. He wants the best out of us all the time,” Coacher said. “He’s just really encouraging and wants to win games, which is really what all of us players want to do. So it works really well.”
Coaching 800 games is a major accomplishment that many dream of but few achieve. However, coach Pendleton never imagined getting this far in his career.
“I don’t think that you think about it in the grand scheme of things,” Pendleton said. “You just deal with what’s in front of you in the moment and you concentrate on the process and pretty soon the processes add up over time and then you get to the point where I am right now in terms of not just coaching but teaching and everything else in life.”
Ricker owes many of the skills that she has acquired to Pendleton and is grateful for all of the encouragement.
“I just really want to thank coach Pendleton for pushing us to be the best we can be,” Ricker said. “He has given me so many opportunities on and off the field. His commitment to the team is truly outstanding. We’ve never been pushed to see how great we can be and he did.”
